But their dreams of performing at the iconic London venue were dashed after the North Wootton girls, aged 12 and 10, fell at the last hurdle.

The sisters, who perform as Funky Little Folk, put their own twist on American pop star Taylor Swift’s Safe and Sound but it wasn’t enough to progress through the area finals.

Their mum Vicki Boulding said: “The girls aren’t too disappointed because they are very level-headed and they just look at this competition as being a brilliant experience.

“It is a shame they won’t get to perform at the O2 Arena but the talent on show was incredible and with just six acts going through out of 29 it was always going to be tough. Maddi struggled with nerves on the day and felt she let her sister down.”

She added: “They entered this competition as a bit of fun to see how far they could go and it was a great journey and great to see them get as far as they did.”

The girls’ quest to win the competition started at the Open Mic auditions in Bedford in September. They then sang Dolly Parton’s Jolene and Amy McDonald’s This is the Life in the regional finals to qualify for the area finals.

But at a packed Bedford Corn Exchange on Sunday, the girls were told they were not one of the acts to progress to January’s national final.

Both girls have won the same talent show at South Wootton Junior School in recent years and also performed at this year’s Wootton Picnic in the Park event – one of the biggest Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Norfolk.

To see videos of the sisters performing, visit www.youtube.com/user/VicMB31